Cloud environments can comprise hundreds or even thousands of endpoints, such as virtual machines (VMs) or namespace containers and network interface controllers (NICs). In a cloud environment, messages may be broadcast across a large portion of the network (known as a broadcast area or broadcast domain). These broadcast messages may be used for a variety of functions. One such function of a broadcast message is to find available configuration servers, such as DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) servers. DHCP servers provide network devices with valid IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and other configuration information.
In one example, a newly started VM may send a DHCP broadcast to find a DHCP server and receive configuration information in return. In a large cloud environment, this DHCP broadcast is sent to hundreds or even thousands of endpoints to find the DHCP server. When a large number of VMs or other endpoints each independently send DHCP broadcasts across the cloud environment, a broadcast storm can ensue. A broadcast storm is an extreme amount of broadcast traffic that can consume a large amount of network resources and render the network unusable.